View Full Version : The Poorer Man's Diaphragm Pump Vacuum System
Cedar Eater
03-13-2017, 07:28 PM
I am testing a smaller cheaper diaphragm pump for use as a mechanical vacuum pump on a 3/16" sapline that is nearly level and has 28 taps. It is a two chambered 12 VDC pump with 3/8" hose barb fittings. It's too cold here to install it yet, but the forecast for late this week or early next looks good. I bought two pumps, one from eBay for around $15 and a Favson from Amazon for around $26. I discovered that they are identical in all observable respects except their labels and packaging, so I decided to only test the cheaper one. This is a pic of the two pumps next to a Shurflo 4008, which is a four chambered pump.
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Here is a pic of the test setup.
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The pump initially only drew a vacuum of 5" Hg, but as soon as it got a little water into it, the vacuum jumped to 17". When I pinched down on the valve that will become the bypass line, the vacuum jumped to 25", which is better than I expected. It's going to be interesting to see how it performs in service. If the motor and pump last the rest of the season I'll be happy if they last through next season, I'll be really impressed. If either fails, I'll report that. Unlike the Shurflo, the motor is not enclosed, so I will be enclosing it to protect it from rain and snow.
mspina14
03-13-2017, 07:55 PM
Neat.
Let us know how it works out.
Mark
littleTapper
03-13-2017, 08:18 PM
Cool! Looking forward to some data. I've got a "remote" 6 taps at my mother-in-law's and 10 box elder taps that a full-blown 4008 setup would be total overkill. Really curious how long it'll run on a deep cycle battery.
Cedar Eater
03-13-2017, 10:01 PM
I got a pair of the smallest cheapest deep cycle batteries I could find, in keeping with the cheaper-is-better approach to the experiment. $60/ea. I do plan to report on how it goes. I've heard these pumps fail quickly without a strainer up stream, so I found a cheaper-than-Shurflow 50 micron strainer that also has 3/8" hose barb fittings.
Ghs57
03-13-2017, 10:25 PM
This should be very interesting.
sugarsand
03-14-2017, 07:47 AM
Where did you find the cheaper strainer filters? We started using these ebay cheapies last year, still running strong this year. The pumps are all 4L/m and draw about 1.1 amps an hr, which if I understand it right, a 12amh battery should last10 - 11 hours. These pumps will generate more sap at a cheap cost.
I just ordered the same Favson pump yesterday to experiment with. Might not get to do much this year with it, but I will have 4 short 3/16" lines next year that are too far apart use one pump on, so I could have 4 pumps out there, 20-40 taps each. I will still use my controller unit but maybe scaled down. It will be a fun experiment.
Dave
wmick
03-14-2017, 09:15 AM
When I pinched down on the valve that will become the bypass line, the vacuum jumped to 25",
Can you clarify what you meant by this??
Just trying to learn a little bit about these pumps and setups.. Might decide to throw one together at the last minute.
and how are you planning to connect this? ..... just connecting the inlet to the sap line and the outlet to your storage tank??? or ??? What is the "bypass"?
Thanks
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 09:43 AM
Where did you find the cheaper strainer filters?
I got it from Amazon. They are currently unavailable from them, but you might be able to go directly to the manufacturer to find another supplier. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013MBL6YW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 09:57 AM
Quote Originally Posted by Cedar Eater
"When I pinched down on the valve that will become the bypass line, the vacuum jumped to 25",
Can you clarify what you meant by this??
Just trying to learn a little bit about these pumps and setups.. Might decide to throw one together at the last minute.
and how are you planning to connect this? ..... just connecting the inlet to the sap line and the outlet to your storage tank??? or ??? What is the "bypass"?
Thanks
The bypass is a line that you drop down from the intake side of the pump into the collection tank or route over to the discharge side of the pump to allow a little liquid to be drawn back into the intake side of the pump to keep the diaphragms wet. The diaphragms suck harder when they are wet. But obviously, you are decreasing the efficiency of the pump by repumping previously pumped sap through it, so you want to minimize that which maximizes the suction. Closing the valve to allow the bare minimum of repump flow does that for you. A needle valve would have been better, but I couldn't find one at the hardware store that had pipe threads or hose barbs, so I used a ball valve. I will insert a 3/16" tee between the valve and the vacuum guage tee and then bring the sap line into the third port of that tee.
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 10:12 AM
We started using these ebay cheapies last year, still running strong this year. The pumps are all 4L/m and draw about 1.1 amps an hr, which if I understand it right, a 12amh battery should last10 - 11 hours. These pumps will generate more sap at a cheap cost.
I have mostly reds, so I'm counting on vacuum to keep them flowing when they would otherwise be finicky. I have a cluster of three trees with a total of four stems with one of the trees being a double or triple tapper that I want to put one of these rigs on. The trees are in full sun and sit in a creek bed so they have crowns that would make the queen of England blush. I should get a pic of them.
Anyway, the pumps won't draw full Amps the whole time, so I think your estimate on the run time of the batteries is conservative. They have to be pushing against full backpressure to draw full Amps. I anticipate significantly longer run times, especially if the pumps are shut down during freezes using the cheap temperature controllers I also got from Amazon but haven't figured out how to protect from weather yet. I will probably just throw a ziploc bag over them and staple it to a backboard. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GWFK7FA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is fun.
littleTapper
03-14-2017, 10:41 AM
That little controller will work great. Calibrate the temp first. Mine was off a few degrees, but with calibration it's working perfectly for my Shurflo 4008 setup.
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 10:58 AM
That little controller will work great. Calibrate the temp first. Mine was off a few degrees, but with calibration it's working perfectly for my Shurflo 4008 setup.
Good point, but it came without instructions and I don't see any way to calibrate it. I was going to just determine its bias by setting the probe in slushy water to see what it reads and adjusting my setting accordingly.
littleTapper
03-14-2017, 11:29 AM
Instructions:
http://usefulldata.com/cheap-12v-temperature-controller-xh-w1209-with-display-and-probe-review/
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 11:38 AM
Thank you very much for that link!
wmick
03-14-2017, 11:49 AM
Thanks for the explanation, Cedar Eater... Makes perfect sense...
I have another question though... I'm thinking about a way to allow the sap to bypass the pump and work on natural gravity/vacuum, in a case where the battery goes dead or pump quits... Do you think your "bypass" line would accommodate enough volume for this on 40 or 50 taps? I was also thinking maybe about some sort of 2nd bypass line with a weak check-valve in it.. (that the pump would pull closed under vacuum, but it could fall open if vacuum disappears.
Any ideas??
PS - another thought... Will the trees not draw your sap back though your bypass... if you are not there to disconnect things when the temp starts going down each evening??....
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 01:10 PM
Thanks for the explanation, Cedar Eater... Makes perfect sense...
I have another question though... I'm thinking about a way to allow the sap to bypass the pump and work on natural gravity/vacuum, in a case where the battery goes dead or pump quits... Do you think your "bypass" line would accommodate enough volume for this on 40 or 50 taps? I was also thinking maybe about some sort of 2nd bypass line with a weak check-valve in it.. (that the pump would pull closed under vacuum, but it could fall open if vacuum disappears.
Any ideas??
PS - another thought... Will the trees not draw your sap back though your bypass... if you are not there to disconnect things when the temp starts going down each evening??....
There's a very smart controller that Biz will be marketing called the Super Sap Sucker that opens a valve to allow gravity flow when the pump gets shut off due to cold or low battery. I don't think the bypass will accommodate much flow with natural gravity. I would not turn the pump off until the temps drop to at least -1oC. By that time, the frozen tubing should be preventing either natural gravity flow or reverse flow. Keep in mind that the goal here is a cheap system for fewer taps and lower amounts of flow than you would put through a Shurflo 2088 or 4008. You won't lose much if you lose the whole system and you won't lose much sap if you're not running when you would want to be.
sugarsand
03-14-2017, 03:42 PM
We also use a bypass by placing a tee in the inline with a piece of 3/16 long enough to reach the bottom of the tank. Below the tee is a cheap little plastic valve that I found on ebay. By opening the valve full, with pump shut off, I get full bypass. You can adjust the valve to get the best performance from your pump.
Hospitals recieve things in thick styrofoam coolers that are usually thrown out, they work great to house the pump and battery against cold and rain.
wmick
03-14-2017, 06:15 PM
Well Cedar Eater - You convinced me... Got a late start this year... A Fresh built rig that hasn't boiled a drop yet.... Waiting for the weather to turn and worried that it will be a very short stint of sap ... Figured I could use a little edge. (vacuum)
Gave my credit card number to Amazon and Voila.... should have the goodies by the weekend, to build your system... We can compare notes..
BTW - How many taps, max, on 3/16" would you attempt with a setup like this..
Thanks for the inspiration.
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 08:34 PM
Well Cedar Eater - You convinced me... Got a late start this year... A Fresh built rig that hasn't boiled a drop yet.... Waiting for the weather to turn and worried that it will be a very short stint of sap ... Figured I could use a little edge. (vacuum)
Gave my credit card number to Amazon and Voila.... should have the goodies by the weekend, to build your system... We can compare notes..
BTW - How many taps, max, on 3/16" would you attempt with a setup like this..
Thanks for the inspiration.
I'm new at the mechanical vacuum game so I'm trying the more conventional Shurflo 4008 next year on about 50 taps (two lines of approximately 25 taps each) and the significantly cheaper version this year on 30 taps max. I chose the 25 tap number because some people have claimed that 25 is the ideal number for 3/16 on mechanical vac. But having said that, any vacuum is good vacuum so the right number might be dependent on how well vacuum can be transmitted down the line. If I reach a point where I can disconnect the far end tap and the line doesn't get sucked out immediately, I'll know that I've gone too far.
Cedar Eater
03-14-2017, 08:38 PM
We also use a bypass by placing a tee in the inline with a piece of 3/16 long enough to reach the bottom of the tank. Below the tee is a cheap little plastic valve that I found on ebay. By opening the valve full, with pump shut off, I get full bypass. You can adjust the valve to get the best performance from your pump.
Hospitals recieve things in thick styrofoam coolers that are usually thrown out, they work great to house the pump and battery against cold and rain.
Would love to know more about that valve. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a source of styro coolers.
wmick
03-16-2017, 01:23 PM
Quick question ..... As said - I'm going to assemble one of these mini-vac systems...
One thing I'm wondering about... is whether a small "vacuum reservoir" would be of any benefit?
Diaphragm pump will be sucking/pumping in an intermittent pulsation.. Not sure if that's an issue or not.??..
A small inverted reservoir T'd in would help to dampen the pulsation in the sap lines if anyone sees any benefit??
maple flats
03-16-2017, 01:42 PM
Find a insulin dependent diabetic, if they get the insulin delivered to their home, each shipment comes in a small but rather thick styrofoam cooler. May be other meds that come they way too. I got one from my 90 yr. old aunt who gets some med in it, but she needs no insulin. The foam is about 2" thick.
Cedar Eater
03-16-2017, 03:08 PM
I'm not sure if the pulsation is a problem on the intake side or not. Someone who has more experience might know. I would think bubbles in the sap causing the pump to surge would produce a bigger disruption to upstream vacuum. But I think with a diaphragm pump you really want to minimize the upstream volume in order to get the most vacuum out to the farthest point.
Cedar Eater
03-16-2017, 03:10 PM
I think I might have a source for those insulin coolers. Thanks for the tip.
wmick
03-17-2017, 07:19 AM
I started installing some 3/16" line for the first time late yesterday... (definitely takes more time to install than buckets) I was impressed to see that there was actually some sap running, as it was still below zero.. These trees get some decent sun.. Installed 25 taps .... 13 on one line and 12 on another, back to a single 40 gal drum... I don't have the pump ready yet but the trees were pushing sap pretty good, even with little to no fall... It was interesting to see the sap reverse in the lines, when the sun went down... Don't get to witness that with buckets. Looking forward to see what happens over the next few days.
Cedar Eater
03-17-2017, 05:40 PM
I commissioned my Poorer Man's Sapsucker (PMS) test rig today. It started working immediately, but it didn't jump to 25" of vacuum right away. I wasn't able to pinch down much on the bypass without losing vacuum due to too much air in the line. I pulled one tree from the line that was supplying nothing but air bubbles and got the vacuum up to around 17". I came back a few hours later and the vacuum was up to 23 and the flow was going well. I pinched down on the bypass a little more and got the vacuum up to 25.
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As you can see, I spared no expense on weather protection for the pump and the temperature controller. I used two ziploc bags for the temperature controller and a folgers plastic can for the pump motor. The battery is a 14 AH Duracell deep cycle. It's inside a plastic bag that's tied shut around the wires, which are 18 AWG speaker wire.
Cedar Eater
03-19-2017, 09:36 AM
After the first day of operation, the battery voltage must have dropped low enough for the temperature controller to turn the pump off. The display on the controller was flashing and reading "0F0". I swapped in the alternate battery and the pumping resumed. I had expected the pump to still be running, because I assumed it didn't run through the night due to cold temps and low sap volume in the barrel. But it is possible that it ran all night despite frozen lines because the air temperature may not have dropped below -2*C. I set the controller to -1*C and I will check to today to see if the pump is still running. We should finally get a good run there today.
Wanabe1972
03-19-2017, 10:01 AM
Ive been running a version of these pumps for several years on 5/16. Ive had good luck with them. 2 were just running the 5/16 with 20 to 30 taps into barrels with no recirculate line. One had the recirculate line and after getting the thing set so you kept the pump running without losing vacuum it works great. This year i replaced the line that had recirculate and valve with 3/16 and the same number of taps and by far draws more sap than before. There are on 16 taps on the line and will fill a 30 gallon barrel almost every run. Im thinking of changing my other 5/16 lines with vacuum pumps to 3/16 this summer and adding check valve taps.
Cedar Eater
03-19-2017, 10:09 AM
Ive been running a version of these pumps for several years on 5/16. Ive had good luck with them. 2 were just running the 5/16 with 20 to 30 taps into barrels with no recirculate line. One had the recirculate line and after getting the thing set so you kept the pump running without losing vacuum it works great. This year i replaced the line that had recirculate and valve with 3/16 and the same number of taps and by far draws more sap than before. There are on 16 taps on the line and will fill a 30 gallon barrel almost every run. Im thinking of changing my other 5/16 lines with vacuum pumps to 3/16 this summer and adding check valve taps.
I'm thinking of using check valve adapters and stubs next year. I've got 27 taps on my one 3/16 line with this pump and the bubbles weren't moving yesterday at the furthest tap. The temp was in the low thirties so I suspect the tree just wasn't giving it up, but I think the CV adapters might help prevent night time backflows.
wmick
03-20-2017, 08:39 AM
Installed my little pump on Saturday night... It was a bad time of night to do much testing because the temperature was dropping fast and the sap was shutting down... but my initial stopwatch test showed about 100% improvement over the lines just hanging it the barrel.
I should have taken a picture, but I built a little manifold with PVC T's, etc... incl a vacuum gauge, bypass and 4 barbs for the incoming 3/16 lines, with 9-15 taps each. I also added a small ATV battery, permanently, to keep the temperature controller powered up while changing out batteries.
The pump would go to about 25" of mercury when it was moving liquid... and would drop down to about 18" intermittently when air bubbles from the trees accumulated. I do have a bypass line and needle valve... but it didn't seem to be helping much, so I just turned it off...
Went back out yesterday and got it going again..... The temperature controller started it up a little early... but I was there to turn it off for a while. Started it up mid morning on 25 taps... Over the course of the next couple hours, I added an additional 25 taps... by last night, I think I had approximately 70 or 80 gallons. Large Car battery was still pumping after about 9 hours of running.
Quite happy with the first day..
BTW - My buckets in my own bush (more shade) netted very little yesterday.
wmick
03-20-2017, 08:57 AM
Hey Cedar Eater - Just looking at your photos... Noticed your strainer is mounted upside down... Was this intentional?
wmick
03-20-2017, 12:15 PM
My dad went out to check the system just before noon today... The pump just happened to start up while he was there.... Ideally, it would have started up an hour or two earlier. I guess I still have a little tweaking to do on the thermostat... He figured it was about 3C... But a couple positive notes... It did start up... and..... The sap from the trees was bypassing through the pump on gravity.. I didn't think that would happen.. but that's ideal.
Cedar Eater
03-20-2017, 05:53 PM
Hey Cedar Eater - Just looking at your photos... Noticed your strainer is mounted upside down... Was this intentional?
Yes. They can be mounted in any orientation. It is easier to see inside when it is mounted as I did.
Cedar Eater
03-20-2017, 05:56 PM
The sap from the trees was bypassing through the pump on gravity.. I didn't think that would happen.. but that's ideal.
That is good news. I'll have to see if that happens with mine.
wmick
03-20-2017, 06:33 PM
Yes. They can be mounted in any orientation. It is easier to see inside when it is mounted as I did.
Noted -
Any sediment will stand a chance of being "drawn back" when flow reverses as it will fall to to the inlet... and Easier to clean out with the sediment bowl down... but from what I've seen so far, regular cleaning will not be necessary, so should be a non-issue.
Cedar Eater
03-20-2017, 06:44 PM
Noted -
Easier to clean out with the sediment bowl down... but from what I've seen so far, regular cleaning will not be necessary, so should be a non-issue.
Clean out of a sealed system should be seasonal, but this is an experiment so I wanted to see into it. I can tip the whole rig over easily to clean it out if I have to. I was also concerned about freeze up breaking the bowl, so I wanted to minimize the amount of liquid in it when the pump is off.
wmick
03-20-2017, 06:56 PM
Clean out of a sealed system should be seasonal, but this is an experiment so I wanted to see into it. I can tip the whole rig over easily to clean it out if I have to. I was also concerned about freeze up breaking the bowl, so I wanted to minimize the amount of liquid in it when the pump is off.
Yep - My first thought was.... "Maybe to avoid the freeze bust"... That's why I asked.
how'd your system work today? I haven't been out to look,, but my dad said the 1000 L tote is better than half full... nearing 2 days on vacuum. Could be worse...
Heading home now to check my buckets.
Cedar Eater
03-20-2017, 07:20 PM
I got about 20 gallons overnight from 27 trees on one 3/16 line. The pump wasn't running when I got there, today. I'm assuming the batteries that I bought just aren't up to the demand for a full 24 hour run. I am thinking of buying a cheap 28 ah battery and alternating with my two 14 ah batteries connected in parallel.
I got my Favson pump setup working over the weekend, mated up to my S3 controller and bypass valve. I used a cheap solenoid valve to replace the motorized ball valve that I usually use. So far I just have a test setup but hope to be able to connect it to a sap line this week before they stop running for the season. My initial impressions: It's loud and seems to strain harder than the Shurflo, so it remains to be seen how long it will last. It has hardly any suction at all when dry, can't lift sap 4 ft from a bucket, but if I lift the bucket part way it will draw. Once it is going, it rips! So make sure your sap line has enough pitch toward the pump to prime it. Got 20" of vacuum on my test setup, which is comparable to the Shurflo. I used 5/16 lines and jammed them onto the pump and valve, seems to work fine. Draws about 0.7 amps of electrical current from a 12 volt battery on my test setup, about half of what the Shurflo draws. I'll be tweaking the setup doing more testing, hope to post a video soon. A photo is on my Facebook page. Thanks Cedar Eater for the inspiration!
Dave
Cedar Eater
03-27-2017, 08:06 PM
I used a cheap solenoid valve to replace the motorized ball valve that I usually use.
I haven't had any luck with using cheap solenoid valves on the vacuum side of the pump. They seem to need a minimum amount of pressure to open, which does no good when you are trying to dump the sap directly to the tank.
It's definitely louder and vibrates more, which makes me think it will be short lived, but at the price you can get them for from eBay, you can buy 4-7 of them for the price of one ShurFlo 4008. This makes me more likely to use them for the small clusters of trees that are separated by great distances from larger clusters.
wmick
04-04-2017, 01:42 PM
I haven't been on here for a bit... Got busy, in the bush, boiling etc... and now catch up with real life.. :)
I will prepare a full report when I get a chance...
Lots of questions from my 1st cont. flow experience.
But I do need to say, that I was very impressed with the amazon vacuum pump and temp controller set up...
1. Allowed bypass from the taps right through the pump when it shut down or sap came before startup.
2. It generated over 25" when wet and would cycle up and down when air bubbles came. (but it seemed to use a lot less power while that was happening)... Self primed when the trees pushed a little sap to it.. or the tiny bypass worked as well.
3. When the trees were sucking back at night, it drew air in through the outlet, rather than drawing sap up the bypass.
4. Very easy on batteries... When I got busy boiling, the weather turned warm and sap wasn't running much, so I didn't bother to change batteries...(figuring my run was over)--- Fresh battery on Thursday night and it was still pumping on Sunday afternoon when we went to empty the tote.
5. The 50 taps I had on the vac, FAR out-produced my bucket spiles.
6. Pump worked great to pull some chlorine solution through the lines when tearing down... Pinched off 3 of 4 incoming lines and started at the last tap, sucking from a pail... and worked my way back to pump.. (and repeat)
Thanks for the idea.
Gonna see if I can find another small road-side bush and add another system next season.
Glad to know there is hope for the smaall pump. I tested my Favson pump for the first time on a real sap line over the weekend.... not successfully. Have a line already out there connected to a Shurflo 4008 which was pumping a steady trickle. I bypassed it and connected up to the Favson pump. It developed 10" of vacuum with no flow, but after 30 minutes it never generated enough vacuum to get a steady flow going. Occasionally it would see a surge of sap, pump it, increase vacuum to 15" for a bit then back to 10" and no flow. Reconnected the Shurflo and immediately I got steady sap flow and 22" of vacuum. I have not given up, I need to mess with recirculation lines, looks like it really needs one to work with low flow where the larger 4008 pump will work fine without it (although it will probably help).
Dave
wmick
04-04-2017, 03:42 PM
Hey Biz - I suspect from what you are saying about "steady flow" your Shurflo will outperform my setup... I certainly did not have "steady flow". It would pulse up and down quite often.. If you get yours working at all, it will be really interesting to see your comparative observations of volume per hour, etc...
I'm pretty green and have no other experience to compare it to at this point... I kind of figured, the trees will just do their thing, and the vac will help get it through the lines and out of the way for more... so the pulsations between flow and no-flow didn't bother me much... I only had 50 taps on it, so I wouldn't have expected it to "flow" steady all day long?
I think any more testing is going to be next year, the season is coming to a close. Flow needs to be steady for best vacuum, pulsing isn't good. I had 40 taps on the test line.
wmick
04-04-2017, 04:44 PM
I think any more testing is going to be next year, the season is coming to a close. Flow needs to be steady for best vacuum, pulsing isn't good. I had 40 taps on the test line.
I'm curious - With your shurflo, approximately how many gallons per tap might you get on a decent day?
I'm curious - With your shurflo, approximately how many gallons per tap might you get on a decent day?
Can't really put a number on it since every day is different, but it will outrun the gravity 3/16 that is located right beside it by 50-100%.
Cedar Eater
03-03-2018, 11:27 PM
I thought that I would dredge up this zombie thread to report last year's results and this year's plans. Last year's results were fantastic. That is to say that they weren't as good as I could have achieved with a Shurflo, but they were almost as good and much cheaper. But things have changed for me and I will not be able to continue gathering sap at my secondary sugarbush this year because I will be too busy building a house there as soon as the weather permits, which looks like it will be in about two weeks. So I am moving the pump here to my home that I am trying to sell and setting up a tubing run on the trees around my house. This means that I will be able to get AC power out to the collection point and that's a plus because the batteries that I used last year were undersized and I had to swap them too often. If my house and sugarbush sell this year, I will need this experience because the land that I am moving to has fewer maple trees and is quite flat. Many of the trees are clustered in small groves, so I will need to set up about 5 of these PMS units to get my sap yields back up to last year's total for both sites.
sugarsand
03-04-2018, 07:22 AM
It was mentioned that regular cleaning of the strainers wouldnt be needed. You will be surprised at how little it takes to clog the screens, especially later in the season when you start getting flaky, gooey slime crap. This year we switched to air pumps because I got tired of chasing batteries, I've had to clean the screens for the second time and its only the second week of running. With the air pumps we dont run a bypass, when it builds up a vacuum around 25 in it will stop until it drops due to sap coming in then will cycle again to maintain, the more sap the more it will cycle.
Cedar Eater
03-04-2018, 10:45 AM
I can't even imagine how I would get air to run pumps at the place I will be moving to. It's more than 80 acres of almost flat ground and I would be running hundreds of feet of airline just to pick up 5 trees here, 10 there, etc. I'll be moving batteries in an E-Z Go and having to maintain trails for that.
sugarsand
03-05-2018, 08:06 AM
Our trees are spread out somewhat too. I used 5/16 tubing for supply line with no more than 4 pumps on a single line from the compressor nearly 1000 ft for the furthest pump, regulated to 60psi. We have 9 of these pumps running and depending on the sap flow, it sounds like an old slow running Surge milking machine.
Cedar Eater
03-05-2018, 11:25 AM
Just to make sure that I wasn't missing out on an opportunity, I looked at pneumatic tubing out to the furthest areas from my power source at the new place. It would be 1800' straight shot to the furthest clump of maples, and then I'm assuming that I would still have to go out there to collect the sap and cross over or under the air line to make a collection loop. There would also be that much more hiking the lines to fix leaks. I'm only talking about 75 trees or so and I would have about 2200' if I looped out to the furthest trees from the nearest. I just don't think air power would work for me. I maybe could get away with 5 pumps and maybe 8 deep cycle batteries.
I'm going to miss having natural vacuum, but we need to move there.
Bmeehan19
11-29-2019, 01:02 PM
I know this is a bit old but hoping someone can help me here. I am looking to add some economical vacuum to my level ground tubing run 5/16” at 25-40 taps. I found a pump similar to the original one listed here. It comes in different flows and pressures. What should I get? Does the flow me more vacuum? There is one at 116psi @ 1.35 gpm. One at 80 psi at 1 gpm and a few others.
Thanks in advance. Bryan
bmbmkr
11-29-2019, 08:59 PM
https://www.amazon.com/SHURFLO-4008-101-A65-Water-Pump-Revolution/dp/B00W5GCQC2/ref=asc_df_B00W5GCQC2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242021983106&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7909116216970799776&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015878&hvtargid=pla-492910881725&psc=1
Bite the bullet and get this one. It has 4 chambers, they pull a lot better then the 3 chamber pumps, let alone the 2 chamber one the OP listed. I had 65 taps, 5 laterals on mine last year and it pulled 25" once I got all the leaks fixed. One of the laterals was down hill from the pump- 17 taps on it, half sugars half reds, it flowed just as good as the other 4 that were running down hill. The last 100-150' of 4 that were the downhill were pretty flat which is not optimum for gravity or vac, but I managed over 2 gallon per tap on a couple of good runs. The longest Lateral was over 800' the shortest couple were 150 or so. It ran all day on a 27 series deep cycle. I had a 15 Watt solar panel on it. This year I'm goin to run 3 of em, and two of em are goin to be on battery with 100W solar panels. I don't have thermostats yet, maybe next year.
I second the "bite the bullet" comment.
If using 5/16" or larger "mainline" on flat ground, be advised that these pumps do not work well if there is ANY dip, sag, flat spots, or air pockets in the lines. There must be a positive downward pitch to the pump in the line to maintain consistent vacuum. I have had good luck with the 3/16 tubing in flat areas if the sags cannot be avoided.
Dave
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